Brewer files immigration countersuit

Arizona’s governor isn’t giving up on her push to challenge the federal government’s security measures on her state’s southern border.

Gov. Jan Brewer on Thursday filed a countersuit against the federal government, claiming it had failed to keep the border safe and prevent “an invasion” of illegal immigrants. The Justice Department has sued the state in federal court, challenging its controversial immigration law. With funds she said were raised from private sources, Brewer and the state’s attorney general are fighting back.

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“The first and foremost issue we’re facing right now is the security, safety and welfare of our citizens,” Brewer said at a press conference outside Phoenix’s federal courthouse. “The federal government needs to step up and do their job.”

The state “did not ask for this fight with the federal government,” she said, “but now that we are in it, Arizona will not rest until our border is secured and federal immigration laws are enforced.”

Arizona’s filings allege that the federal government failed to maintain “operational control” of the border, protect the state from “an invasion” of illegal immigrants, enforce immigration laws and abide by the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gives states and the people powers not explictly granted to the federal government.

“The federal government has effectively conceded its inability to protect Arizona and its citizens from criminal activities associated with illegal aliens,” the state said in its filing.“Within the last year, the federal government placed warning signs in the desert 80 miles north of the border and only 30 miles south of Phoenix warning people to stay away from the area.”

Border crime, the federal government contends, is going down. Earlier this week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said that statistics show enforcement is cutting the volume of illegal immigrants and contraband crossing the U.S. border with Mexico.

The Department of Homeland Security called the Thursday filing “a meritless court claim” that “does nothing to secure the border.”

Rather, said department spokesman Matt Chandler, “Smart strategies, dedicated law enforcement personnel and strategic partnerships with state, local and tribal governments and agencies do. Not only do actions like this ignore all of the statistical evidence, they also belittle the significant progress that our men and women in uniform have made to protect this border and the people who live alongside it.”